Spindlin1, a novel nuclear protein with a role in the transformation of NIHM cells

spindlin 1 , a novel human gene recently isolated by our laboratory, is highly homologous to mouse spindlin gene. In this study, we cloned cDNA full-length of this novel gene and send it to GenBank database as spindlin 1 (Homo sapiens spindlin 1) with Accession No. AF317228. In order to investigate the function of spindlin 1, we studied further the subcellular localization of Spindlin] protein and the effects of spindlin 1 overexpression in NIH3T3 cells. The results showed that the fusion protein pEGFP-N1-spindlin1 was located in the nucleus and the C-terminal is correlated with nuclear localization of Spindlin1 protein. NIH3T3 cells which could stably express spindlin1 as a result of RT-PCR analysis compared with the control cells displayed a complete morphological change; made cell growth faster; and increased the percentage of cells in G(2)/M and S phase. Furthermore, overexpressed spindlin1 cells formed colonies in soft agar in vitro and formed tumors in nude mice. Our findings provide direct evidence that spindlin1 gene may contribute to tumorigenesis. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.